A new biobank at UNMC will allow researchers access to a larger number of blood samples that aren't specific to any one disease. Dr. Jennifer Larsen, vice chancellor for research, says a biobank holds biologic samples to be used in future research.

Currently, UNMC has several condition-specific biobanks. But this new biobank would contain blood samples obtained from individuals when they go to the doctor for a routine visit.

The American Red Cross says there’s an urgent need for donations of blood and platelets.

April Oppliger, Program Manager for the Mid-American Blood Services Division, says there have been 50,000 fewer donations in June than anticipated. She says that’s about half the blood supply the Red Cross had at this time last year.

Oppliger says a pint of whole blood has a shelf life of 42 days. Platelets have a shelf life of only five days, and Oppliger says those donations are always in high demand. She says donations of all blood types are needed.

What can people do to render aid before the ambulance arrives? Metro Community College’s new Trauma First Response class provides the training to help answer that question.

MCC’s Fremont campus is offering numerous eight-hour courses in Trauma First Response this summer. Craig Jacobus, EMS Program Coordinator for the Fremont campus, says the classes are geared toward the non-traditional first responder.

He says the courses take complex information and put it at a level that is immediately applicable. Jacobus says this is not a sit down class.

A Creighton University oncologist is critical of an announcement by the United States Preventive Services Task Force about PSA-based screenings.

The Task Force announced this afternoon its recommendation against prostate-specific antigen or PSA-based screenings for all men regardless of age. Dr. Henry Lynch is the Director of the Hereditary Cancer Center at Creighton.

An estimated three of every 100 cases of colon cancer are the result of a hereditary genetic condition called Lynch Syndrome.

Thursday is Lynch Syndrome Awareness Day. It’s named for Dr. Henry Lynch, the Director of Creighton University’s Hereditary Cancer Center. He discovered the genetic condition, which is passed down through generations. People with Lynch Syndrome are at increased risk of colon and other types of cancer.

Dr. Kay Wagner says Her2 is an aggressive type of breast cancer. He says there are several subsets and that each case must be treated differently.

Dr. Wagner says in previous studies, it was thought that by inhibiting a certain protein called Cyclin D1, the growth of breast cancer cells could be stopped or slowed. But he says his research indicated the opposite was true.